We met up again with art historian and tour guide Emanuela for a walking tour focusing on the Italian Renaissance and featuring a visit to the Galleria dell’Accademia to see Michelangelo’s David.
The Italian Renaissance walking tour
Lunch with visiting friends and Road Scholar “graduation”
We started our last week of language classes this morning, then had lunch with our RVing friends Peter and Theresé, who were in Florence for a few hours as part of a month-long tour of Italy. Then it was back to the school for a Road Scholar group meeting.
Leonardo da Vinci Interactive Museum
Today was a national holiday, so we didn’t have class. We slept in a bit, met up with friends for lunch, and then sought an escape from the heat in the Leonardo da Vinci Interactive Museum.
A quiet Sunday
We spent Sunday at home to catch up on sleep, laundry, and our language homework, and then we went out for dinner in the evening.
Greve in Chianti and Montefioralle
As the summer heat suddenly arrived in Tuscany, we traveled by bus from Florence to the town of Greve in Chianti (that’s the full name of the town) for our final Road Scholar field trip. After visiting the market and having lunch in Greve’s famous triangular square, we rode up a steep hill to the 11th-century village of Montefioralle, which was the original nucleus of Greve.
Return to the Uffizi Galleries and wine tasting
This afternoon, we took advantage of our “Friends of the Uffizi” membership to return to the Uffizi for a third visit to see some of the other works that we’d missed on our highlights tour with Nicoletta earlier in the month. Cheryl was most interested in seeing more of the paintings in the gallery’s amazing collection of Botticellis. After a couple hours immersed in art, we then met up with our Road Scholar group for our weekly Friday happy hour–this one in the cellar of a lovely wine bar.
Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio
This morning, Cheryl’s “Survival Italian” class visited Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio, one of the oldest markets in Florence, to learn how to shop for fresh food in Italian. (The class was supposed to take place early in our stay, but heavy rains that day caused the tour to be postponed.) Here are some of photos of the beautiful produce, meat and seafood offerings they saw.
City of Dante walking tour and a steak dinner to remember
Following our walk through the Vasari Corridor, we met up with our Road Scholar art history guide Nicoletta for a walking tour through the oldest part of Florence, which was where poet Dante Alighieri once lived.
The Vasari Corridor
Early in our stay in Florence, we had booked one of the coveted time slots for a walk through the Corridoio Vasariano, an elevated, enclosed passageway that connects the Palazzo Vecchio with the Palazzo Pitti. In 1565, the Medici family had court architect Giorgio Vasari build the 750-meter-long corridor so they could walk between their residence and the seat of government undisturbed and without running risks to their safety.
The Corridor’s unique route passes through the Uffizi Gallery, over the Ponte Vecchio, and through a church, offering panoramic views of Florence. The Corridor reopened to visitors in late 2024 after many years of restoration work.
Gelato – Stories, Traditions & More
After morning language class and lunch at home, David returned to the school for a presentation on gelato by one of the teachers. Gelato–invented right here in Florence–is almost as important to the culture as pasta and wine. As the locals say, “it’s always time for gelato!”
We learned about the history of gelato, how it’s made, and how to distinguish “tourist gelato” from the good stuff. (And yes, there is a huge difference.) Because this was a school program, rather than one through Road Scholar, it was entirely in Italian.